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- Stock car racing’s origins trace back to the Prohibition era when bootleggers raced modified cars.
- Automakers sponsor racing to enhance the image of the consumer vehicles they sell.
- Millions of fans attend NASCAR races annually, highlighting America’s fascination with fast cars.
NASCAR was founded in 1948, but stock car racing’s history in the United States goes back to the prohibition era – and it has helped drive the nation’s car culture for decades since then.
“Distilling grew out of the state's rich agricultural and social history,” the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources said as it was launching a Moonshine and Motorsports Trail “to highlight the state's unique history surrounding distilling and stock-car racing.”
“Speed-hungry bootleggers eventually began challenging each other in modified stock cars, giving birth to a multibillion-dollar industry that now attracts legions of devoted followers across the nation and world,” the agency said.
With NASCAR drivers gearing up to race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24, the USA TODAY Cars team took a look at how stock cars and car culture have become intertwined over the years.
Why automakers have embraced stock car racing
Automakers often brag about how many seconds it takes their cars to go from 0 to 60 mph. But nobody ever envisions driving their sedan or SUV at speeds of as much as 180 mph, which is how fast the average NASCAR car that participates in races can go, according to RacingNews365.com, a global motorsport news platform.Â
That hasn’t stopped carmakers from racing to get in on the sponsorships of stock car racing. Even at the height of the 2008 Great Recession that put the industry on life support, General Motors was spending an estimated $120 million to $140 million on Chevrolet NASCAR-related spending, according to a 2008 ABC News report.Â
“Car companies spend money on race cars to enhance the image of the cars they sell us,” said Erik Gordon, business professor at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. “Their SUVs don’t even resemble their race cars, but companies hope we believe that if a company can make a race car, it can make a good SUV.”
GM and other auto companies like Honda and Ford, and many of their European counterparts, have made racing a part of their business plan for years. Ford might not exist without it. In 1901, Henry Ford entered a “sweepstakes” race at the 1-mile Grosse Pointe Race Track. As Ford put it, “I never thought anything of racing, but the public refused to consider the automobile in any light other than a fast toy. Therefore … we had to race.â€
Why has stock car racing always fascinated Americans?
Americans have always been fascinated by fast cars, and that fact is prominently displayed when thousands of people pack tightly into speedways around the country to watch NASCAR races.
NASCAR does not release official attendance statistics, but it's estimated that between 2 million and 3.6 million people attend its races each year, according to Flow Racers.
The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources said motor sports has brought people together for generations.
“Scores of remote dirt tracks drew communities together across NC, and rural fields filled with agricultural workers and small-town families who enjoyed (and still enjoy) the competition and entertainment that racing continues to provide,” the agency said. “Additionally, many drivers, mechanics, distillers, and creators came from underrepresented groups — women, African Americans, Native Americans, and low-income agricultural workers are central to this narrative.”
Road races between cities started in the United States and Europe even before 1900, and the first speedway was constructed in England in 1906, according to Britannica.Â
“After the first Grand Prix race in France in 1906 and the first Indianapolis 500 race in 1911, automobile racing was essentially different in Europe and in North America until in the 1950s Grand Prix racing was organized worldwide,” Britannica said. In all cases, manufacturers vied for superiority and publicity. Â
Automotive reporter Charles Singh contributed to this report.
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